Catch-Up Time: Alaska!

Wow - yes, it's really been over two months since this blog was updated!  

During that time, I had an amazing trip of a lifetime to Alaska in June with my daughter Amanda and three other wonderful women, to cheer Amanda on in the Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage! 



She did it!  26.2 miles of Alaska beauty!
SO proud of my beautiful Baby Gazelle!

While Amanda raced in her first marathon, I power-walked the concurrent 4-Miler race and enjoyed some beautiful Anchorage scenery as well.

 

It was so much fun to be part of the race!
But the best part was being at the finish line to see
Amanda cross!

The day after the race, it was time for our vanful of five fabulous females to hit the road for some serious vacay!




Denali National Park.  It's hard to make out in this photo,
but Mt. McKinley is looming large in the background amongst the clouds!



Portage Glacier.

What a wonderful thing, to be in the midst of such awe-inspiring Alaskan grandeur, surrounded by a circle of loving, supportive women.  I've said it before:  there's an incredible power in a circle of women, a dynamism that  strengthens, encourages, emboldens, and inspires.

Alaska itself exudes an undefinable force, too.  If you've read some of my older blog posts, you know I'm a desert gal:  give me those magnificent wide open spaces, immense sky, and wild beauty and I'm a happy camper.  I've never felt that affinity anywhere except while in the desert.

Until Alaska.

Walking along the Savage River trail in Denali National Park, I was struck by that same connection to place:  the huge open spaces were there, that enormous sky was above, and the desolate, primal beauty was comforting and familiar, even though I'd never been to that part of Alaska before.

In that moment, in the company of four strong women, it was easy to allow myself to absorb the energy and strength that they and Alaska were gifting me with.

Turns out I'd need it in the near future.

May 24, 2012

Look what followed me home last weekend!

"Lil' Chick" is a 1964 Thunderbolt and only 8' long.  I had been looking for a vintage project trailer and fell in love with this tiny thing the moment I saw her.  She'll need a lot of work before she's camp-able, but health-wise I'm continuing to feel fabulous so why not?!?  I still have my little A-frame pop-up, "Stella," that I'll continue to camp in while "Lil' Chick" is getting her makeover.

I've started a blog about her.  Check it out:

www.1964thunderbolt.blogspot.com

May 2, 2013

Yep, you’re right:  my last blog post was way back in January after the half-marathon.  But that’s actually a good thing.  As in, “No news is good news.”

I’m continuing to feel great, no cancer-related shit going on, just livin’ life.  My next appointment with Dr. Hampshire the awesome oncologist isn’t until July, when I’ll have the routine CT scan and bloodwork done.  I continue to be amazed (and IMMENSELY blessed and grateful) at how well and NORMAL I feel.

Why update this blog if nothing cancer-related is going on?  To prove to the world (and to myself) that this Stage IV diagnosis doesn’t mean the end of life as we know it.

Case(s) in point:

Because one jumbo-sized bundle of doggie love can never be enough, Jake and I added a second Rottweiler to our pack in March:  Piper!

Eight legs of luv.

Piper came into the Bonita shelter as an un-named stray on Friday, February 22.  SD Department of Animal Control (SDDAC) policy is to hold strays for four shelter days to give the owners time to claim em; if no one claims them, they are put up for adoption on the fifth day. The shelter is closed Sunday and Monday, so her four shelter days would be Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

I’ve been considering a second Rottweiler for over a year (a female this time, since Rotties are prone to same-sex aggression), and have been regularly trolling the SDDAC website – like Jake, the second dog had to be a rescue – but I kept changing my mind and deciding I wanted Jake to be an only child.

Until last Tuesday.

A very bad, blurry photograph of what was described as a two year old female Rottie popped up in the “Lost and Found” section of the SDDAC’s website. Really, you couldn’t even tell it was a Rottie, the photo was so bad. But something drew me to her, and I stopped by the shelter on my way home from work.

Stepping up to her kennel, I didn’t find a friendly, waggly dog at the front, vying for attention over the cacophony of hundreds of barking dogs. Rather, she was laying in the rear, as far back as she could be. I bent down and talked to her and tried to coax her to the front – but she just wasn’t gonna have anything to do with me. For a fleeting second, I thought “Uh oh. This one’s gonna have issues.”

Debbie, the kennel attendant, brought this timid, apprehensive girl to the interaction area and let her off the leash. She made a comprehensive perimeter check, sniffing and intently investigating, completely ignoring both Debbie and I. Again, the doubts tried to creep in: she’s aloof, she’s detached – not a good match for either Jake or me.

But then, after she completed her perimeter check, it was as if a switch were turned on. She ran up to me, big smile on her face and wagging her tail, sweet and loving as could be. In retrospect, obviously she needed to first make sure she was in a safe place before she could let her guard down. Who knows what kind of fear she lived with as a stray?

Again, I thought: “Uh oh.”

But this time it was in a completely different context.

As in, “Uh oh. I’m in LOVE!”

Before leaving the shelter on Tuesday, I put the first “hold” on her – if her owner didn’t claim her, I’d be first in line to adopt her.

Wednesday morning, I brought Jake to meet her. I left him in the car while I went into the shelter and signed in. Again I approached her kennel, and again she stayed in the back. But this time, as I talked to her, she raised that sensitive and perceptive nose into the air and began to sniff. Her tail slowly began to wag, and she cautiously approached the front of the kennel. Yay! She remembered me!!!

Debbie had us slowly introduce the dogs to each other, on leash, in a wide open space. Then we went into the interaction area and removed the leashes.

They chased each other, played a little, and did a whole lot of sniffy-butt. Roles were apparent from the beginning: Jake the alpha, she the submissive one.

By the end of the interaction with Jake, I was certain she’d eventually come home with us.

I went to the shelter again Thursday morning to see her one more time, just to be sure. You gotta understand: Jake has been my one and only - my main guy - for the past two years. He’s seen me through the difficult and sad months of Sam’s care, decline, and death from ALS; my own cancer diagnosis; and assorted traumas and dramas. Would I have enough love to share?

Again, she sniffed the air when I appeared at her kennel - but this time, she immediately came up to the front, 70 pounds of Rottie wiggles and smiles.

We played and we cuddled and – since this was her fifth shelter day – I went inside and adopted her. “What are you going to name her,” they asked as I was filling out paperwork. “Molly or Piper,” I replied. “No, wait - it’s Piper. She’s definitely more of a Piper than a Molly.” Piper was just a better fit.

SDDAC policy is that healthy adopted dogs not be released until they are spayed or neutered – and since they weren’t going to be doing surgeries until Monday, she had to stay in the shelter until today. I visited her again after work on Friday, and fell more in love with her.

A sad statistic is that big, black shelter dogs – especially the so-called “aggressive breeds” – are the bottom of the barrel in terms of adoptions. People walk right by their kennels without a second glance.

The timid, back-of-the-kennel dog with the blurry shelter photograph? Who knows what her future would have been. All I know for sure right now is that she’s safe, happy, and HOME with her new big brother, checking out her new digs, sleeping not on a cold concrete floor but a jumbo-sized soft memory foam doggie bed. With a pillow. And a blankie.

Welcome to the pack, Piper!

Woof!them; if no one claims them, they are put up for adoption on the fifth day. The shelter is closed Sunday and Monday, so her four shelter days would be Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.I had been considering a second Rottweiler for over a year (a female this time, since Rotties are prone to same-sex aggression), and have been regularly trolling the SDDAC website – like Jake, the second dog had to be a rescue – but I kept changing my mind and deciding I wanted Jake to be an only child.

Until I saw a picture.

A very bad, blurry photograph of what was described as a two year old female Rottie popped up in the “Lost and Found” section of the SDDAC’s website.  Really, you couldn’t even tell it was a Rottie, the photo was so bad.  But something drew me to her, and I stopped by the shelter on my way home from work.

Stepping up to her kennel, I didn’t find a friendly, waggly dog at the front, vying for attention over the cacophony of hundreds of barking dogs.  Rather, she was laying in the rear, as far back as she could be.  I bent down and talked to her and tried to coax her to the front – but she just wasn’t gonna have anything to do with me.  For a fleeting second, I thought “Uh oh. This one’s gonna have issues.”

Debbie, the kennel attendant, brought this timid, apprehensive girl to the interaction area and let her off the leash.  She made a comprehensive perimeter check, sniffing and intently investigating, completely ignoring both Debbie and I.  Again, the doubts tried to creep in: she’s aloof, she’s detached – definitely not a good match for either Jake or me.

But then, after she completed her perimeter check, it was as if a switch were turned on.  She ran up to me, big smile on her face and wagging her tail, sweet and loving as could be.  In retrospect, obviously she needed to first make sure she was in a safe place before she could let her guard down.  Who knows what kind of fear she lived with as a stray?

Again, I thought: “Uh oh.”

But this time it was in a completely different context.

As in, “Uh oh. I’m in LOVE!”

Before leaving the shelter on Tuesday, I put the first “hold” on her – if her owner didn’t claim her, I’d be first in line to adopt her.

First thing the next morning, I brought Jake to meet her.  He stayed in the car while I went into the shelter and signed in.  Again I approached her kennel, and again she stayed in the back.  But this time, as I talked to her, she raised that sensitive and perceptive nose into the air and began to sniff.  Her tail slowly began to wag, and she cautiously approached the front of the kennel.  Yay!  She remembered me!!!

Debbie had us slowly introduce the dogs to each other, on leash, in a wide open space.  Then we went into the interaction area and removed the leashes.

They chased each other, played a little, and did a whole lot of sniffy-butt.  Roles were apparent from the beginning:  Jake the alpha, she the submissive one.

By the end of the meet-and-greet with Jake, I was certain she’d eventually come home with us.

Piper (left) and Jake (right) getting
acquainted in the shelter's interaction area.

I went to the shelter again the following morning to see her one more time, just to be sure.  You gotta understand:  Jake has been my one and only - my main guy - for the past two years.  He’s seen me through difficult and sad months; my cancer diagnosis; and assorted traumas and dramas.  Would I have enough love to share?

Again, she sniffed the air when I appeared at her kennel - but this time, she immediately came up to the front, 70 pounds of Rottie wiggles and smiles.

We played and we cuddled and – since this was her fifth shelter day – I went inside and adopted her.  “What are you going to name her,” they asked as I was filling out paperwork.  “Molly or Piper,” I replied.  “No, wait - it’s Piper. She’s definitely more of a Piper than a Molly.”  Piper was just a better fit.

Gratefully, SDDAC policy is that healthy adopted dogs not be released until they are spayed or neutered – and since they weren’t going to be doing surgeries until the following Monday, she had to stay in the shelter until she had recovered from her spay.  But that Tuesday morning, you can bet I was waiting at the shelter’s front door for them to open so I could pick up my newest baby!

Newly sprung from doggie jail
and on her way to her new home!

It's a sad statistic that big, black shelter dogs – especially the so-called “aggressive breeds” – are the bottom of the barrel in terms of adoptions.  People walk right by their kennels without a second glance.

The timid, back-of-the-kennel dog with the blurry shelter photograph?  Who knows what her future would have been.  All I know for sure right now is that she’s safe, happy, and HOME with her new big brother, loving her new house and huge backyard, sleeping not on a cold concrete floor but a jumbo-sized soft memory foam doggie bed.  With a pillow.  And a blankie.  When she’s not cozied in the bed with her mommy and brother.

It's a good life.....

Welcome to the pack, Piper!

Multi-Rottie joy!

A few weeks after bringing Piper home – and seeing that she had adjusted and bonded with Jake in like a minute – I hit the highway and headed up the coast for a little road trip that took me to San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and San Francisco.

Loving the rugged central California coast.

Sailing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge
on a gloriously warm and sunny spring day.

The next big adventure coming up?  Journeying with Amanda to ALASKA in June!

After successfully running her first half-marathon and finishing ahead of where she hoped to be, my Baby Gazelle signed on with Team In Training to do her first FULL marathon in Anchorage! 

The Baby Gazelle and her very proud mommy.

I’m so proud of her for taking this on because, in addition to kicking her running and training into high gear, she’s continuing with fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society AND completing her studies to graduate from university this month!  The culmination of her tremendous level of academic and physical work and achievement will be a mother-daughter week of adventure and exploration that we’ll be sharing with three other fabulous femmes!

Cancer?  WHAT cancer!?!  The sun rises and sets, the Earth keeps on spinning, and life goes on.

And I continue to be thankful for every single second of it.

   

January 27, 2013

Made 13.1 miles my bitch by walking, dancing, and laughing my way through the course, finishing the Carlsbad Half Marathon in 3:30:31.  This was seriously one of THE funnest things I've ever done in my life!

Yes, that would be a 3:AM wake-up call.....



Team In Training purple - represent, yo!

Having a fabulous time!
 

Only a few yards to go, preparing to finish with
three of my AWESOME Team IPA teammates!



The best part of crossing the finish line?  Seeing my daughter Amanda
(the Baby Gazelle) cheering me on!  She kicked ass on the course, finishing in 1:55:40.
This was her first half marathon - I'm so proud of her!

 

Proud owner of a FINISHER'S MEDAL!



 

 

 



January 23, 2013

(Im)patiently waiting for Dr. Hampshire.

The results from last week’s CT scan are in.  

And the winner is…..

ME!

Saw Dr. Hampshire the Awesome Oncologist yesterday and he said that -  although some of my lymph nodes have slightly increased in size – overall, everything is stable.  

STABLE. 

Can you hear the big sigh of relief that just came outta me?!?

AND, the cherry on top is that he doesn’t want to see me again for six months.  For nearly the past year, CT scans, blood work, and oncology visits have been every three months – so I’m MORE than good with a six month interval!  

After being as stressed as I was over this scan, I literally feel like I’ve been given a six month reprieve.

Dr. Hampshire went over the scan images and report and addressed all my questions.  The right side lower back pain?  He wasn’t able to see anything on the scan that would indicate that it’s cancer-related, THANK BUDDHA!  Still not sure what is causing it, and that’ll be an appointment for my primary doctor - but at this point, since it’s not the lymphoma rearing its ugly head, I really don’t care WHAT it is!


 

Me: "What's this?"
Dr. Hampshire: "That's called a computer monitor....."
 

Hangin' wit mah hema homeboy, yo.

 

After leaving Dr. Hampshire’s office, it was a quick stop at the lab for bloodwork…..

 

 

 

 

A gorgeously intricate origami swan gracing the lab

 

 …..then off to Cheesecake Factory for the traditional post-onc appointment celebratory meal!

Prepare for food coma.

 

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 20, 2013

What does a Stage IV Lymphopixie do during the stressful interval between a CT scan last Wednesday and an oncology appointment next Tuesday?  She climbs up on her roof to trim some trees, of course…..

 

Rooftop dork ornament.

 

I would think that if the CT scan indicated some not-so-great news, Dr. Hampshire would’ve called right away – but I haven’t heard from him, so I guess I’ll just have to sit tight and wait until the appointment and bloodwork on Tuesday.

 

 

I was still pretty stressed about this CT scan, and wasn't thrilled about going.....

 

 

 

 

.....but the actual scan was quick and painless, as always.  The staff at the CT/MRI department are all the most kind, gentle, friendly people – despite the reason why I have to get quarterly CT scans, it’s really a pleasant experience!

 

Painless.  Really!

 

 

IV port installed and ready to roll.

 

One of the best things about a CT scan?
The delicious warm blankie they cover you with!

 

My view.

 

What a CT scan view SHOULD be.

 

About 10 minutes, start to finish.  Done and done!

 

Our last Team In Training (TNT) session was yesterday, at the same place where we began on September 8. 

 

Crown Point, Mission Bay. 
Beautiful sunrise, and about 25 degrees warmer than last week's session!

 

I can’t believe the half-marathon is already next weekend!!!  It was just a little over 4 months ago that I attended my first TNT Saturday session; in those few months, I have been inspired, impressed, and humbled, and have been blessed to meet amazing people who have become wonderful friends.  TNT is a magnificent family of highly diverse athletic skill levels, but all united by a common goal: to wipe out blood cancers.  I would sign up for the next training season in a heartbeat – but I’m going to focus this season on my daughter’s training and fundraising for the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska in June.  Amanda (a.k.a. The Baby Gazelle) also formed a tight bond with TNT and its mission – and discovered that she really loves running.  Alaska will be her first full marathon.  As her mom, I’m endlessly proud of her for her dedicated progression from casual jogger to trained endurance athlete.  As her mom with a blood cancer, I’m incredibly grateful for her commitment to helping The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society find cures for leukemia, lymphomas, and myelomas.  Go Amanda!  You are my hero!

 

My beautiful Baby Gazelle.

 

When I wasn’t roof-climbing and tree-trimming this weekend, I began customizing my singlet (the fancy term for race jersey). 



 

Front.....
 

 

.....and back.

 

From the beginning of this season, I knew I wanted to do the half-marathon to honor two very important people in my life, as well as millions of others that I’ll never meet.  

 

Glenn was Amanda’s dad and my first husband, who lost his battle with Multiple Myeloma in 2004, a few months after seeing Amanda (his oldest child) graduate from high school. 

Amanda and Glenn - Grand Canyon - 1987

 

Carol is my fabulous LaLa, who waged a kick-ass fight against Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – chemo, radiation, the whole shebang – but still came to work every day with a smile on her beautiful face.  She and I will be walking the half-marathon together.

My LaLa and I on top of the Duomo - Florence, Italy - 2009

 

And Stage IV Warriors is the global community of those currently fighting their own battle against the shitty-ass cancer that has forever altered their lives.

 

 

 

Cancer has touched EVERYONE who’s reading this - how has it changed YOUR life?  What are YOU going to do about it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 15, 2013

OK, I MUST be stressing about tomorrow's CT scan.  The evidence:

1.  Chocolate-covered cherries
2.  "Shahs of Sunset" on Bravo
3.  Etsy on the laptop

My three guilty pleasures all at once.....yeh, must be the pre-CT flip-out.....

Someone stop her before she devours the entire box!!!